Robert Wise’s The Body Snatcher (RKO, 1946) was filmed in a period of American history riddled with anxiety about the destruction and preservation of bodies. During this time of war, the film and its makers had to negotiate censorship regulations as well as popular attitudes concerning American medicine. The visual vocabulary of The Body Snatcher displays these intertwining concerns through props, setting, and the narrative itself. This is a study of how The Body Snatcher utilizes these methods to convey attitudes about war, medicine, and the body in 1940s America.